Lonza Wood Protection, a business of Arch Timber Protection Limited, a Lonza company, has installed an incising test rig at its headquarters in Castleford, England to enable customers to see the results of incising on a wide range of home grown timber species. Effective incising offers timber treaters the opportunity to differentiate their products in a competitive marketplace.

Incising technology is one of the key methods used for preparing timbers for treatment to ensure reproducible and consistent high-quality treated products for certain end uses. Lonza developed the test rig and new incising patterns in partnership with one of the world’s leading specialists in incising equipment. Preliminary testing, completed in the USA, has already provided Lonza with excellent results in terms of treatment quality and regular and consistent incisions, while also maintaining an acceptable surface appearance of the timber.

The required use of incising for home grown timber species for certain end uses, predominately in the highways sector, is currently being considered by the Wood Protection Association (WPA). We expect the association to recommend changes to the requirements for a 30-year desired service life (DSL) specification, which may then be incorporated within the Preservation of Wood Code of Practice - BS8417: 2011. These changes may also include a requirement for heartwood penetration, and incising is therefore going to be required for the use of home grown timber species, such as Douglas Fir, for the covered end-uses. While the BS8417 specifications will not change for fencing and landscaping timbers treated to a DSL of 15 years, incising can still offer treaters the opportunity to differentiate their products.

The test rig will be used to complete an in-depth study to further develop Arch’s knowledge and understanding of incising technology, for the benefit of its customers, on the full range of species used in the UK and Ireland.

Ed Webster, Lonza Wood Protection’s Engineering and Technical Services Manager, commented, “We have been researching the use of incising technology for a considerable amount of time, as well as investigating other controlled pre-treatment timber conditioning methods, in order to allow our customers to reap the full benefits of TANALITH E wood preservative. Quality incising should allow consistent, even and effective penetration into less permeable heartwood areas of both whitewood and redwood timbers.”

Mr Webster added, “As well as allowing us to carry out a range of detailed assessments on all relevant home grown species, the test rig is also available for our customers to view and to see first-hand the difference incising would make to their treated timbers. I would encourage our customers to contact me directly to discuss these unique possibilities.”